The court has found the former mayor of Verkhnodniprovsk and his accomplice guilty of corruption

Sentence handed down to former mayor of Verkhnodniprovsk for bribery, illustrative photo: istockphoto.com

The Southern District Court of Kamianske has handed down a verdict against the former mayor of Verkhnodniprovsk and his accomplice in a case concerning the acceptance of a bribe for the lease of a local landfill site. Both defendants have been found guilty of a corruption offence.

This information was obtained from the Unified State Register of Court Decisions.

The investigation established that in early 2020, the mayor, in collusion with an acquaintance, demanded money from a private businesswoman in exchange for signing an agreement on the development and subsequent lease of a plot of land under the district landfill.

The official asked for 10,000 US dollars in return for a favourable resolution of the matter. The businesswoman was to hand over the money via his trusted representative. In early February 2020, the intermediary was detained at one of Kamianske’s petrol stations whilst receiving the full sum, which consisted of genuine banknotes and counterfeits.

During the court hearing, the former mayor did not admit his guilt. He explained that the city had been looking for an investor for waste sorting for a long time, as the landfill had a negative impact on the environment and frequently caught fire.

According to him, the sum of 300,000 hryvnias was an estimated cost for developing the site (entrance, security and concrete platform), which the businesswoman was to cover herself.

The defence insisted there was no criminal offence, noting that the site was being used by the district administration, and described the businesswoman’s actions as a provocation by law enforcement agencies.

The intermediary also denied guilt, stating that he considered the funds transferred to be financing for the initial work on the landfill’s improvement, which his firm was to carry out.

Despite the defendants’ position, the court found them fully guilty on the basis of the evidence gathered. This included the businesswoman’s testimony, search reports for the vehicle containing the seized funds, as well as audio and video surveillance materials documenting the participants’ meetings and telephone conversations.

The court also rejected the defence’s arguments regarding the inadmissibility of evidence from covert investigative operations, noting that the lawyers had had sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the declassified materials during the trial.

The former mayor’s actions were classified as the receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public official in a position of responsibility, whilst his accomplice’s actions were classified as aiding and abetting this offence.

In determining the sentence, the court took into account the seriousness of the offence, the absence of previous convictions among the defendants, character references, and the former official’s state of health.

It is worth recalling the case of Oleh Babin, the former head of PJSC «UMR «Hydroenergobud»», who is suspected of illegal granite mining; a recess was announced in the case because the prosecution did not have enough time to review all the case materials.